cambodia | BEN PIPE PHOTOGRAPHY

From Bangkok I flew to Phnom Penh, beginning the second half of an epic 6 week South East Asian sojourn. At the time I didn’t know how long i would stay in the country – with 3 weeks remaining I was torn between exploring Cambodia or fitting in a trip out to Burma (Myanmar).

Portrait of Remork-moto Driver, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Strolling out of the airport with backback and camera bag on my shoulders I was approached by a ‘remork moto’ (tuk tuk) driver offering his services, he had a cool hat so I went with him, where else in the world can you get a taxi into the city centre for $6?!

View from Remork-Moto of traffic, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

View from Remork-Moto of traffic, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I did his portrait at the end of the journey, I’d been hoping to get a shoot done on this first evening here but the visa process at Phnom Penh airport dragged on.

Out the next morning nice and early, with no place in mind, just seeing what I could find, only a couple of lenses and the camera..

Fruit in Food market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Fresh fruit and vegetables at Food market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Fresh fruit and vegetables at Food market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Butcher at Food market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Fresh Limes at Food market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Food market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Seafood at Food market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Meat in Food market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I stumbled across this morning market, always a great place to get started photographically in a new country.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Throne Hall, Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Sometimes its good to include people in the shot – I exposed a frame without this mother and daughter but kind of like the eye contact and expression of the child as they walked away from the Throne Hall.

This was a warm up for the next week in which I would spend photographing mainly temple sites in the Angkor region. This was shot with the Nikon 14-24mm Wideangle and the verticals were corrected in Lightroom.

In the end I was glad I’d spent a couple of nights in Phnom Penh, there was a lot to see and I returned later in the trip for more, many people skip the capital and make straight for Siem Reap for the UNESCO sites of Angkor but they are missing out..

Lotus Pond, Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

This is my Cambodian office! For your interest I’m (was) travelling on this 6 week Asian trip with the following equipment:

Nikon D800E (first big trip for this awesome camera, have been astounded by its quality and dynamic range. Upgrading to this has felt like the jump from Nikon D200 to D700) also have a Nikon D700 as spare body,

Nikon 14-24mm F2.8 Wideangle (first big trip with this incredible piece of glass – glad I brought it along),

Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 (this has been the bread and butter lens, its done about 90% of the work I reckon),

Nikon 70-200 F2.8 Telephoto (not used a lot but there have been a few sessions that I couldn’t have done without it),

Nikon 50mm F1.4 (just used for a few portraits – underused),

Nikon TC1.7 Teleconverter,

Nikon SB600 Flashgun

Cable release, Polariser, Neutral Density 3 and 6 stop, and Lee Hard ND Grads 0.6 and 0.9, Cokin 0.6 and 0.9 Soft ND Grads. The vast majority of the trip has been shot handheld, I’ve only got these grads out for a few dawn and dusk shoots in Ko Samui.

Casio Sea Pathfinder Watch (Love this for its in built compass)

Iphone 5 – A great travel tool for its Sat Nav to get me around these Asian cities. Music, to get me through these cramped, endless bus journies and camera to take preview snaps of potential locations which I can look back on later.

Guidebooks – I use Lonely Planet or Rough Guides when I travel, also use Trip Advisor for further info on accommodation and for ideas of what to do in an area.

Macbook Pro Retina 15” 16gb RAM – Dream piece of kit for a photographer on the move, this is my first big trip travelling with it but its hard to imagine life without it. Allows me to review and begin the post production process, keyword and caption work, and generally stay on top of business back home. The display is exceptional for its clarity and viewing angle, I can sit anywhere and still be able to view the photographs on screen. Its also got the required speed to handle the mammoth files that the Nikon D800E produces – 80mb an image!!

1TB Hitachi Portable Hard Drive to back the work up onto.

Not in shot but also with me is a Giottos Carbon Fibre Tripod, courtesy of David Noton.

BEN PIPE PHOTOGRAPHY

Tag Archives: cambodia

Cambodia – Part One: Phnom Penh City

My Cambodian Office